Divorced Women Lose Health Insurance

Each year, thousands of couples file and go through the divorce process. While divorce has become notorious for bringing about long heated battles between husband and wife, there are other repercussions that can be more damaging than losing marital property. Health insurance is already a frequently debated topic in our nation with President Obama’s health care plan to bring about a new era in health care coverage. However, a recent study has shown that divorce of all things can affect a woman’s ability to retain their health care coverage. Let’s take a look.

Study Released

A study released by the University of Michigan and supported by the University of Michigan’s national Poverty Center shows a reoccurring problem for women after divorce. The study was analyzed and focused on nationally representative data ranging from 1996 to 2007. It had a range of ages in women from 26 to 64. The results of the study showed that 65,000 divorced women will lose all of their health insurance coverage in the months following a divorce. The reasons stated was that they no longer would qualify as dependents under their husband’s policies, and many reported being unable to afford the premiums that go with having private insurance. In spite of the financial hardships that can be a result of a divorce, many of these women do not qualify for Medicaid and other various public insurance options.

Reasons for the Repercussions

Women with employer-based jobs were said to have less trouble in losing their coverage. It was reported that women in moderate-income families face the greatest loss of insurance coverage. They are seemingly caught in the middle, while higher income women can afford private premiums and lower-income families qualify for public aid of certain kinds. Women and families in the middle can do neither.

It remains to be seen what the Affordable Care Act can do to potentially change this situation, or if it is something that will need to be readdressed separately as part of an overarching plan to get people insurance who were covered under their ex-husbands or even ex-wife’s plans. However, there are provisions that will potentially address this situation that may be of substantial help to those in need.

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